[Entered,  according  to  th«  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1903,  by  ISAAC  P.  NOYES,  in  the 
Office  of  the  Librarian  of  Coi       •    »  at  Washington.] 


HOLY  AMERICA. 


CHARACTERS. 

Mrs.  DUSENBURY,  keeper  of  board-  ASHLYNE,  teacher  and  offensive 

ing  house.  partisan. 

URIEL,  son  of  Mrs.  Dusenbury.  Miss  CRUMMELL. 

MOSES  TOBEY,  Whig  boarder.  EMILINE,  cook,  etc. 

ROSECOMB.  Miss  MARY  GRAY,    (later  Mrs. 

BEN  WHEELER,  War  Democrat.  Broadarm. ) 

DORRWELL  )  ELIZABETH  BOWEN. 

AND       V  Traveling  agents.  w.  BRILLS. 

BARWELL,  J  Mr  and  Mrg  EDWARDSt 

J.  H.  BROADARM.  AL  RANDER 

Time  covered— about  1855  to  1900. 
Dining  room;  parlor  adjoining. 
[Enter  the  two  travelers.] 

DORRWELL.  Well,  Bar  well,  this  is  the  finest  place  we've  struck 
yet.  Our  landlady  don't  seem  to  be  after  the  general  type  of  board- 
ing-house keepers.  She  seems  to  be  more  like  a  lady  who  has  seen 
better  days,  and  who  is  now  taking  boarders  to  eke  out  a  living.  Did 
you  ever  see  such  a  boarding  house? — more  like  one  large  harmonious 
family,  and  yet  they  differ.  There  is  Mr.  Tobey,  a  hot  Whig;  a  man 
well  informed,  and  enthusiastic,  yet  a  gentleman.  There  is  his  oppo- 
site— Wheeler — a  most  enthusiastic  " dyed-in-the-wool"  Democrat; 
yet  the  two  get  along  well  together  for  the  simple  reason  they  are  both 
gentlemen.  Tobey  pushes  him  pretty  hard  sometimes,  but  he  takes 
it  all  in  good  part,  and  fires  back  in  his  quiet  way.  But  the  old  lady, 
Miss  Bo  wen,  they  call  her,  did  you  ever  see  such  a  character?  Sup- 
pose she  was  put  on  the  stage !  The  general  verdict,  I  think,  would 
be  "made  up;"  yet  here  we  see  her  "the  size  of  life  and  twice  as 
natural." 

BARWELL.  Wonder  how  she  came  to  wear  that  turban?  She 
seems  like  a  mere  skeleton,  yet  how  she  can  talk !  And  she  talks  like 
a  well-informed  politician,  too.  Now,  there  is  something  in  the 


353483 


woman,  our  landlady,  who  can  run  such  a  house;  such  characters, 
all.  That  deaf  and  dumb  maid  is  a  character.  Deaf  and  dumb,  yet 
see  how  nicely  she  waits  on  the  table — quick,  and  always  on  the 
alert.  If  you  want  anything  all  you  have  to  do  is  to  stamp  your  foot 
on  the  floor  a  little;  she  catches  the  vibration,  and  at  once  surveys 
the  table,  and  then  you  motion  to  her.  She  comprehends  quickly. 

[Others  enter — URIEL  among  them.] 

TOBEY.     Uriel,  how  do  you  do !   You  always  seem  to  be  around. 

URIEL.  Yes,  at  supper  time.  I  like  to  be  'round  then  best  and 
hear  the  talk.  I  have  more  leisure  then.  In  the  morning  I  have  to 
assist  about  the  kitchen,  helping  serve,  go  to  the  store;  then  at 
noon — dinner — you  are  all  too  busy,  but  at  supper  you  have  plenty  of 
time. 

TOBEY.  That's  so.  You  may  not  realize  it  now,  but  later  on 
in  life- you  will  realize  that  this  was  a  good  school  for  you. 

BROAD  ARM.  Mr.  Rander,  did  you  go  and  see  the  "  Mermaids" 
last  night? 

RANDER.  I  did;  and  you  ought  to  go  and  see  that  play.  It  was 
the  finest  thing  I  ever  saw. 

ROSECOMB.  That's  what  you  said  about  the  play  last  week— 
the  " Sea  of  Ice." 

RANDER,  Well,  the  "Sea  of  Ice"  was  a  fine  play,  but  it  can't 
quite  come  up  to  the  "Mermaids."  That  is  the  finest  play  I  ever 
saw. 

BROAD  ARM  (aside).  I  suppose  next  week  Rander  will  see  another 
play,  and  that  will  be  the  finest  thing  he  ever  saw. 

[Singing  in  the  parlor.] 

NEW  ENGLAND,  MY  COUNTRY. 

The  hills  of  New  England,  how  proudly  they  rise, 
In  the  wildness  of  grandeur,  to  blend  with  the  skies; 
With  their  far  azure  outline,  and  tall,  ancient  trees, 
New  England,  my  country,  I  love  thee  for  these. 

The  vales  of  New  England,  that  cradle  her  streams, 
That  smile  in  their  greenness  like  land  in  our  dreams; 
All  sunny  with  pleasure,  embos'm'd  in  ease, 
New  England,  my  country,  I  love  thee  for  these. 

The  woods  of  New  England,  still  verdant  and  high,  / 

Though  rocked  by  the  tempest  of  ages  gone  by; 
Romance  dims  their  arches,  and  speaks  en  the  breeze, 
New  England,  my  country,  I  love  thee  fior  these. 

The  streams  of  New  England,  that  roar  as  they  go, 
Or  seem  in  their  stillness  but  dreaming  to  flow; 
O,  bright  glides  the  sunbeam  Their  march  to  the  seas, 
New  England,  my  country,  I  lovejjthee  for  these. 


GOD  SPEED  THE  RIGHT. 

Now  to  heaven  our  prayer  ascending, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
In  a  noble  cause  contending, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Be  our  zeal  in  heaven  recorded, 
With  success  on  earth  rewarded, 

God  speed  the  right!  God  speed  the  right! 

Be  that  prayer  again  repeated, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Ne'er  despairing,  though  defeated, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Like  the  good  and  great  in  story, 
If  we  fail,  we  fail  with  glory, 

God  speed  the  right !  God  speed  the  right ! 

Patient,  firm,  and  persevering, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Ne'er  th'  event  nor  danger  fearing, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Pains,  nor  toils,  nor  trials  heeding, 
And  in  heaven's  time  succeeding, 

God  speed  the  right !  God  speed  the  right ! 

Still  our  onward  course  pursuing, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Every  foe  at  length  subduing, 

God  speed  the  right ! 
Truth  our  cause,  what'er  delay  it, 
There's  no  power  on  earth  can  stay  it, 

God  speed  the  right !  God  speed  the  right ! 

ALL.     God  speed  the  right ! 

WHEELER.  I  suppose  you'll  all  go  to  hear  Senator  McDuffy— the 
grand  old  Democrat? 

Miss  BO  WEN.  Go  and  hear  such  a  man !  I  don't  go  out  to  any 
meetings;  but  to  go  to  hear  such  a  man  is  time  wasted.  I  wish  I 
was  a  man;  I'd  like  to  take  the  stump  against  him.  I  read  his 
speeches  in  the  papers.  All  trash,  trash,  trash — all  trash.  How  an 
intelligent  man  can  go  before  the  country  and  advocate  free  trade 
and  friendliness  towards  the  slave  power,  I  can't  see. 

ASHLYNE.  Free  trade  is  a  grand  and  proper  thing  for  a  free 
country — we  would  have  all  free. 

TOBEY.  All  but  the  niggers.  You  seem  to  want  to  hold  them  in 
bondage — to  stop  there. 

WHEELER.  I  heard  a  good  sermon  last  Sunday.  While  the 
parson  did  not  talk  much  politics,  he  evidently  could  not  be  deaf  to 
the  excitement  of  this  campaign.  He  advocated  non-interference  in 
our  neighbor's  field.  His  text  was,  "Render  unto  Cresar  the  things 
that  are  Csesar's." 

Miss  BOWEN.  How  did  he  twist  that  text  'round  so  as  to  sustain 
slavery — the  only  dark  curse  upon  our  escutcheon? 


WHEELER.  He  argued  from  the  Bible  that  slavery  was  a  divine 
institution.  Our  forefathers  made  a  covenant  with  the;people  of  the 
Southern  States.  That  slavery  was  really  a  great  blessing  to  the 
blacks.  They  were  brought  from  the  darkness  of  Africa  to  a  Christ- 
ian country,  where  they  became  Christians.  They  were  in  dark- 
ness— now  they  are  in  light.  So  that  they  have  really,  by  the  dis- 
pensation of  Providence,  come  to  a  Christian  country,  where  there 
is  some  hope  for  their  souls. 

Miss  BO  WEN.  If  that  is  the  way  your  minister  talked,  they  don't 
all  talk  that  way;  for  we  know  that  the  question  of  Slavery  vs.  Free- 
dom has  been  discussed  in  many  of  our  pulpits,  and  slavery  has  been 
condemned.  When  our  forefathers  made  the  covenant  with  the 
slave  power,  it  was  simply  a  necessity.  It  was  "Sink  or  swim,  live 
or  die,  survive  or  perish."  We  were  then  in  no  condition  to  help 
ourselves.  As  a  people  we  were  weak — politically  so.  We  simply 
must  compromise;  and  at  that  time  it  was  thought  that  slavery,  ere 
many  years,  would  die  out,  through  emancipation,  or  by  some  pro- 
cess, we  hardly  knew  what.  But  as  soon  as  those  interested  in  slave 
property  saw  the  possibilities  of  increasing  the  value  of  that  prop- 
erty, they  used  every  means  to  extend  its  power  and  influence. 

WHEELER.  Didn't  the  men  of  the  North,  as  well  as  the  men  of 
the  South,  engage  in  the  slave  traffic? 

Miss  BOWEN.  It  is  a  question  to  which  a  direct  answer  cannot  be 
made.  As  the  c'ase  stands  to-day,  the  people  of  the  South  are  for 
slavery,  while  the  people  of  the  North  are  against  it.  There  are  in- 
dividuals in  the  South  strongly  against  it.  There  are  Quakers,  I  un- 
derstand, in  North  Carolina  who  are  bitterly  opposed  to  it;  while  in 
the  North  there  are  men — individuals — interested  in  the  vile  traffic 
for  base,  personal  interests. 

WHEELER.  Yes,  I  was  to-day  in  the  boat-house,  by  the  wharf, 
and  there  I  saw  a  very  queer  boat  being  built,  and  knowing  ones 
would  come  in  and  say,  "She's  built  to  carry  niggers  in,"  and  this 
boat  is  building  for  Messrs.  Garnett  &  Co.,  who  run  fast  vessels  to 
Africa  and  back.  Their  voyages  are  from  two  to  three  years.  The 
vessels  of  this  firm  go  from  here  laden  with  rum,  calico  and  powder, 
and  return  with  spices  and  African  fruits.  The  knowing  ones  pretty 
broadly  hinted  that  Messrs.  Garnett  &  Co.  were  in  the  slave  business. 

TOBEY.  That  may  be;  but  where  is  the  demand?  But  for  the 
demand  these  unprincipled  men  would  not  invest  their  money  in 
such  business.  Then,  from  the  very  nature  of  the  case,  the  people 
of  the  South  have  no  commerce — none  to  speak  of,  so  it  is  very  natural 
that  this  carrying  business  should  come  to  the  North;  but  even  that 
does  not  inculpate  the  people  of  the  North. 

Miss  BOWEN.  In  the  South  they  are  all  of  one  mind  on  this 
subject,  and  more  and  more  it  is  becoming  dangerous  for  individuals 
to  speak  against  this  horrible  crime;  while  in  the  North  there  is  more 


freedom.  Why,  the  very  Senators  from  the  South  come  to  Faneuil 
Hall,  Boston,  to  speak  in  favor  of  slavery,  and  our  politicians — too 
many  of  them — are  trying  to  preach  just  like  Mr.  Wheeler's  parson 
last  Sunday — " Render  to  Csesar  the  things  that  are  Caesar's."  Even 
Senator  Toombs  has  told  us  that  he  would  call  the  roll  of  his  slaves 
at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill. 

TOBEY.  He  may,  but  I  for  one  do  not  have  much  faith  in  him  as 
a  prophet.  Bunker  Hill  stands  for  freedom;  it  was  defended  against 
much  odds — against  a  tyrant;  and  I  don't  believe  that  the  sober 
judgment  of  the  people — the  true  loyal  sons  of  Holy  America — will 
ever  let  the  holy  ground  be  defamed  by  such  an  act.  But  the  cause 
of  slavery  has  grown.  It  was  first  a  little  cloud;  now  it  is  a  mighty 
cloud  that  threatens  to  more  and  more  cover  the  land.  Just  see  the 
skirmishing  that  they  have  had  on  the  prairies  of  Kansas — a  skirmish 
that  I  fear  shall  lead  up  to  a  real  battle — a  series  of  battles. 

WHEELER.  0,  friend  Tobey,  you  take  it  too  much  to  heart. 
Those  men  at  the  South  don't  mean  more  than  one-half  they  say. 
They  are  hot-headed,  you  know.  They  have  been  talking  war  for 
some  time;  and  they  even  go  so  far  as  to  say  that  one  Southern  man, 
in  a  fight,  is  equal  to  five  Northern  men,  and  they  seem  to  have 
imagination  enough  to  believe  it.  But  a  beautiful  spirit  of  compro- 
mise is  coming  o'er  the  scene,  and  all  shall  go  well  for  our  whole 
country.  Then  we  shall  have  everything  free — free,  free  trade,  as 
the  grand  climax  of  the  whole.  ''Oh,  I  dreamed  of  all  things  free !" 

EMILINE.  Yes,  Mr.  Wheeler,  you  are  a  dreamer.  I  think  that 
you  must  be  cousin  to  the  woman  who  was  left  in  charge  of  a  store 
to  attend  to  the  trade  while  the  captain  was  out.  Some  one  came  in 
for  a  pound  of  shot.  She  could  not  find  the  weight,  but  found  a 
pint  measure.  "A  pint's  a  pound  the  world  'round."  So  she 
measured  out  to  the  customer  a  pint  of  shot  for  a  pound. 

WHEELER.     Where's  the  point  that  adorns  the  tale,  Emiline? 

EMILINE.  You  illustrate  the  point  by  having  about  as  much 
sense  as  the  woman  who  sold  a  pint  of  shot  for  a  pound.  If  you  put 
your  faith  in  your  notions  of  freedom,  such  as  you  talk  here,  you'll 
be  selling  shot  by  the  measure,  and  when  the  fools  learn  of  it,  they'll 
patronize  your  shop. 

ASHLYNE.  The  greatest  thinkers  of  the  age  have  given  much 
thought  to  this  subject.  While  in  the  abstract  they  admit  that 
slavery  is  wrong,  from  an  ethological  point  of  view  they  claim  that 
in  the  concrete  it  is  right. 

EMILINE.     Concrete?    What's  that?    Some  kind  Masonry? 

ROSECOMB.  That's  all  right;  don't  interrupt;  we  understand 
the  gentleman. 

EMILINE.     Well,  I  don't.     I  want  him  to  talk  in  plain  words. 

ASHLYNE  (not  noticing  interruption).  There  are  many  things 
that  seem  wrong,  especially  to  the  untutored  mind.  As  the  mind 


6 

expands  and  grows,  why,  the  youth  begins  to  see  things  differently; 
from  the  ideal  he  comes  down,  or  rather  grows  up,  towards  and 
grasps  the  practical.  From  the  higher  law  of  ethics  slavery  becomes 
a  blessing  to  the  world — the  strong  to  care  for  the  weak. 

TOBEY.  How  would  you  like  to  be  one  of  the  weak,  and  to  be 
treated  as  the  weak  are,  with  no  rights  that  the  stronger  are  bound 
to  respect? 

ASHLYNE.  O,  I  see,  you  are  quoting  Taney.  The  man  in  the 
lower  plane  cannot  be  expected  to  understand  the  higher  principles 
that  run  through  the  body  politic.  There  is  free  trade.  We  want 
trade  to  be  free  and  unrestricted,  and  that  will  in  the  long  run  so 
adjust  things  that  all  shall  be  the  better  for  it.  You  obstruct.  Would 
you  obstruct  the  river  that  is  rushing  towards  the  ocean?  Your  pro- 
tection scheme  is  an  obstruction. 

TOBEY.  Your  argument  against  a  police  force  would  be  just  as 
forcible.  You  do  not  want  any  obstruction.  You  would  have  people 
free — free  to — 

ASHLYNE.  Yes— free,  free,  along  all  lines.  No  army,  no  police; 
and  in  the  future  the  world  will  look  back  on  us  as  barbarians — igno- 
ramuses— who  had  not  yet  reached  the  age  of  majority. 

TOBEY.  That  may  all  be,  but  because  in  some  remote  future  we 
may  not  require  certain  things,  it  is  no  argument  against  the  neces- 
sity of  those  things  in  the  present.  We  need  an  army,  as  at  present 
we  need  a  police  force.  We  need  protection  to  our  industries. 

ASHLYNE.  Protection !  We  are  a  nation  of  men — I  might  say 
giants.  Like  babies,  men  cry  out  for  protection  !  No,  let  the  trade 
of  the  world  go  as  it  will;  it  will  protect  itself.  As  for  the  army — the 
millions  that  we  spend  upon  the  army  might  be  more  profitably  ex- 
pended upon  schools,  gardens,  etc. 

WHEELER.     Amen !    That  is  good,  sound  Democratic  doctrine. 

Miss  BOWEN.  That  shows  me  that  Mr.  Ashlyne  is  far  from  com- 
prehending the  subject.  He  has  about  as  good  a  grasp  of  the  subject 
as  Emiline's  woman  had  about  business  affairs — because  a  pint  of 
something  may  sometimes  be  a  pound,  therefore  all  things  should  be 
measured  by  that  standard.  It  is  queer  to  hear  men  claiming  pro- 
tection for  such  an  institution  as  slavery,  and  denying  it  to  the  labor 
of  freemen. 

MB.  BRILLS.  I  have  not  so  far  had  much  to  say,  but  I  wish  to 
endorse  what  Mr.  Ashlyne  has  said.  The  intelligent  men  of  the 
country — the  scholars — are  with  him. 

ASHLYNE.  Allow  me  to  correct  you,  Mr.  Brills.  Say  that  I  am 
with  the  intelligent  scholars — a  humble  disciple,  a  follower. 

TOBEY.  Yes,  a  follower  of  all  that  is  bad — a  follower  of  a  path 
that  leads  to  darkness  and  destruction. 

BROADARM.  Like  Mr.  Brills,  I  do  not  say  much,  but  I'd  like  to 
put  myself  on  record  as  endorsing  our  friend  Tobey  here.  They  say 


that  protection  is  expensive.  That  depends  on  how  you  look  at  the 
subject.  From  some  points  of  view  even  the  subject  of  slavery  would 
seem  to  be  quite  a  blessing;  but  the  trouble  with  slavery  is  that  the 
pro-slavery  party  will  not  let  it  rest  at  the  point  where  they  claim 
that  it  is  a  blessing.  Having  reached  a  certain  point,  they  are  not 
satisfied;  as  their  selfish  interests  impel,  they  want  to  push  it  a  little 
further  and  further  in  another  direction,  until  they  reach  a  point 
where  what  little  virtue  they  claim  for  it  is  lost  in  the  mass  of  selfish- 
ness and  inhumanity.  The  people  of  the  North  are  on  the  right 
track.  They  may  have  some  uphill  work,  but  Senator  Toombs  shall 
never  call  his  roll — his  roll  of  slaves — at  the  foot  of  Bunker  Hill. 

WHEELER.  No  one  believes  that  he  means  that;  it  was  only  one 
of  his  eloquent  ebullitions. 

TOBEY.  I  suppose  you  have  heard  the  expression,  "  Where  there 
is  so  much  smoke  there  must  be  some  fire"  ? 

BROADARM.  To  come  back  to  my  line  of  thought,  incidentally 
I  spoke  of  slavery.  Along  the  same  line  I  wish  to  say  a  word  as  to 
the  Expense  vs.  Economy  of  Protection.  General  Bundy,  in  his 
speech  the  other  day  in  the  House,  made  a  good  point  as  to  the 
economy  of  protection.  A  few  years  ago,  he  said,  his  wife  wanted  a 
stove,  and  such  a  stove  as  she  wanted  must  be  imported;  and  he  had 
to  sell  four  cows  in  order  to  buy  one  stove.  When  the  tariff  was  well 
established  he  said  that  he  could  purchase  four  stoves  for  the  price 
of  one  cow. 

Miss  BOWEN.  Yes,  protection  is  the  good  old  Whig  idea;  and 
had  we  followed  it  we  would  not  have  found  ourselves  in  the  predic- 
ament we  have  experienced  the  past  years.  And  yet  the  strength 
of  the  party  that  so  vigorously  opposes  all  that  makes  America  a 
holy  nation,  a  refuge  for  the  poor  and  oppressed,  where  they  can 
build  up  an  ideal  home,  such  as  they  never  before  thought  of  as  a 
possibility — the  strength  of  the  anti-protection  party  comes  from 
these  very  people,  who  came  here  to  escape  oppression  in  their  own 
country.  Yet  no  sooner  do  they  land  on  this  free  soil,  then  they  go 
right  to  work  to  forge  chains  for  themselves  here — just  like  what 
they  had  in  the  old  country  from  whence  they  came. 

EMILINE.  Just  like  them  low-down  folks;  they  don't  know  any 
better.  I've  been  among  them.  Some  fellow  comes  'round — tells 
them  that  the  employer  is  making  all  the  money — they  are  not  mak- 
ing anything — things  are  so  high — if  we  only  had  free  trade  things 
would  be  much  cheaper. 

TOBEY.  They  don't  seem  to  see  or  to  understand  anything  beyond 
the  price  at  which  they  can  buy  an  article,  and  their  ability  to  buy. 

Miss  BOWEN.  A  man  better  have  the  money  to  buy  things  that 
are  more  expensive.  As  a  mere  matter  of  arithmetic,  it  would  seem 
that  it  was  better  to  have  shoes,  for  example,  $2  per  pair,  and 
have  $5  in  the  pocket  with  which  to  purchase,  than  to  have  the  shoes 


8 

sell  for  $],  and  have  only  $1,  or  even  less,  with  which  to  buy  them. 
Then  as  we  build  up  protection  we  are  creating  more  employment 
for  the  willing  worker,  and  by  and  by  we  shall  have  the  advantage 
of  ample  means  with  which  to  supply  our  wants. 

ASHLYNE  (injecting).  Yes,  and  their  wants  will  go  on  so  in- 
creasing that  in  the  end  there  will  be  no  gain. 

Miss  BOWEN  (continuing).  And  through  this  agency  the  in- 
fluence of  America  shall  extend  all  over  the  world — an  influence  that 
shall  be  for  good — for  the  good  of  all. 

TO  BEY.  Eight  here  is  another  idea  I  want  to  inject  into  this  con- 
versation. The  foreign  manufacturer  is  loud  for  free  trade.  As  an 
inducement  he  has  put  down  the  price  of  his  goods  to  the  lowest 
point;  but  as  soon  as  he  has  secured  the  market  and  cut  off  opposi- 
tion, he  has  not  been  backward  in  raising  his  prices  to  the  maximum. 
So  with  his  system  the  laboring  man  will  get  small  wages,  and  have 
to  pay  dear  for  the  necessities  of  life,  the  mere  necessities;  there  will 
be  no  luxuries,  as  in  the  protection  scheme. 

DORR  WELL.  I  fell  in  with  a  unique  gentleman  of  color  to-day. 
He  is  a  genuine  African,  a  regular  plantation  darkey.  They  say  the 
darkies  are  natural-born  musicians;  I  don't  suppose  he  ranks  very 
high  as  a  musician,  but  he's  a  character.  He  enjoys  the  wonderful 
name  of  Valorious  Glorious  George  Washington  Peakstant.  Now,  if 
you  take  interest  in  music  of  the  plantation  kind,  I  will  bring  Val- 
orious Glorious  'round,  and  he  will  give  us  some  of  his  songs.  I 
don't  suppose  they'll  be  classical,  but  from  Valorious  Glorious  we'll 
get  a  good  conception  of  the  music  they  have  down  on  the  plantation. 

EMILINE.  Is  he  a  real  plantation  nigger,  or  is  he  one  of  those 
burnt-cork  chaps? 

DORRWELL.  He  is  evidently  a  pure-blooded  African.  Where 
he  hails  from  I  don't  know,  but  I  fell  in  with  him  to-day  up  street, 
in  the  new  German  beer  saloon,  so  engaged  him  to  come  around 
to-night.  If  you  feel  like  it,  chip  in  ten  cents  or  a  quarter  apiece. 
You  will  get  your  money's  worth.  "Valorious  Glorious  George  Wash- 
ington Peckstant."  Don't  forget  his  name.  In  his  songs  he  is 
working  for  our  American  ideal  every  time.  He  is  more  of  a  phil- 
osopher than  would  at  first  seem. 


SCENE  II.  Same  room — some  changes.  Muxic — Singing  and  accordion 
by  Valorious. 

BARWELL.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I  rise  not  to  waste  the  night 
in  words,  but  to  briefly  introduce  to  you  the  honorable  gentleman, 
Valorious  Glorious  George  Washington  Peckstant,  from  the  Land  of 
Cotton.  You  will  find  him  a  fine  sample  of  the  gentlemen  of  color. 

VALORIOUS.  Ladies  and  gentlemen,  I's  hab  no  words  to  waste 
on  dis  occasion.  I's  from  Africa,  by  de  way  of  de  South.  I's  not  de 
brother  of  de  King;  I's  de  King  himself.  I  was  the  King  of  Bam- 


shantee.  De  white  folks  invited  me  to  visit  dis  country.  Dey  gave 
me  a  free  passage;  I  come;  I's  landed  in  de  State  of  Alabama.  After 
sojourning  dar  some  years,  I  took  de  underground  railroad  for 
Canada,  and  dar  I's  rusticated.  After  a  while  I  wondered  down  har, 
and  har  I  is.  Der  other  night  a  gentmon  paid  me  a  great  compli- 
ment. He  invited  me  to  take  de  fust  train  to  dat  warm  country  so 
often  referred  to — down  dar!  But  I  'marked  to  him  dat  I  had  only 
one  objection  to  visiting  dat  country — I  was  mighty  'ferd  dat  I'd 
meet  him  dar.  Whar  he  is  just  now,  I  don't  know,  but  I's  har. 
When  a  man's  in  great  tribulation  it  is  most  comforting  to  him  to 
sing,  so  I  sings  most  ob  de  time.  My  repertoire  is  so  tremudus  I 
hardly  knows  what  to  sing. 

[Sings  snatches  of  songs:] 

Oh,  poor  Miss  Lucy  Neal, 
Oh,  poor  Miss  Lucy  Neal, 
If  I  had  her  by  my  side, 
How  happy  I  should  feel. 

ROSECOMB.     Do  you  know  Kitty  Wells? 

VALORIOUS.      Oh,  yes,  I  know  Kitty.      Kitty  was  my— my— 
affiance;  and  de  poet  come  round  and  just  wrote  us  up. 

You  ask  what  makes  this  darkey  weep, 

While  he  like  others  am  not  gay, 
What  makes  de  tears  flow  down  his  cheek 

From  early  morn  till  close  of  day. 
My  story,  darkies,  you  shall  hear, 

For  in  my  memory  fresh  it  dwells, 
'Twill  cause  you  all  to  drop  a  tear 

O'er  the  grave  of  my  Kitty  Wells. 
Chorus. — While  the  birds  were  singing  in  the  morning, 

And  de  myrtle  and  de  ivy  were  in  bloom, 
And  de  sun  o'er  der  hill  were  adorning, 
'Twas  there  we  laid  her  in  the  tomb. 

I  never  shall  forget  the  day 

That  we  together  roamed  the  dells, 
I  kissed  her  cheek,  and  named  the  day 

When  I  shall  marry  Kitty  Wells. 
But  death  came  to  our  cabin  door, 

And  took  from  me  my  joy  and  pride, 
And  when  I  found  she  was  no  more 

Then  I  laid  my  banjo  down  and  cried. 
Chorus. — While  the  birds  were  singing,  &c. 

I  often  wish  that  I  was  dead, 

And  laid  beside  her  in  the  tomb. 
The  sorrow  that  bows  down  my  head, 

I's  silent  in  the  midnight  gloom. 
The  spring  time  hath  no  charm  for  me, 

Though  the  flowers  were  blooming  in  the  dells, 
For  that  bright  form  I  do  not  see, 

'Tis  the  form  of  my  sweet  Kitty  Wells. 
Chorus. — While  the  birds  were  singing,  &c. 


•     10 

Miss  GRAY.  By  the  papers  the  South  seems  determined  on  war, 
By  sheer  political  trickery  they  are  rushing  the  States  out  of  the 
Union,  or  have  already  done  so.  So  far  as  they  are  concerned,  the 
Union  is  no  more. 

TOBEY.  The  Union  lives  in  spite  of  them.  In  the  end  they  will 
see  the  folly  of  this  act.  Slavery  made  them  an  agricultural  people; 
and  as  they  were  not  interested  in  manufactures,  they  were  indiffer- 
ent as  to  where  they  got  the  manufactured  goods;  and  to  spite  us,  of 
late  they  have  been  more  and  more  encouraging  the  foreign  markets. 
If  we  would  only  submit  to  them,  what  a  fine  people  we  would  be — 
to  them,  and  to  them  only !  Should  we  follow  their  lead,  the  War  of 
the  Revolution  might  as  well  never  been  fought.  And  then,  accord- 
ing to  the  economistic  theory,  we  should  be  great  gainers.  The  war 
was  all  a  waste,  we  should  never  have  had  the  names  of  the  heroes 
of  the  Revolution  on  our  rolls.  A  few  of  them — Washington,  Adams, 
Henry,  Hamilton  and  a  few  others — might  have  decorated  some 
English  gallows.  But  with  their  plan  we  would  to-day  only  be  a 
colonial  power. 

Miss  GRAY.  I  am  glad  to  hear  you  speak  thus.  I  was  nothing 
but  a  poor  country  girl  before  I  came  -to  the  city;  and  while,  from 
history,  I  knew  of  the  Revolution,  your  words,  Mr.  Tobey,  have  put 
the  subject  on  a  higher  basis.  I  now  realize  what  the  Revolution  of 
1776  means  and  stands  for.  I  was  reading  an  old  copy  of  The  Fed- 
eralist the  other  day — one  Mr.  Edwards  picked  up  at  an  old  second- 
hand book  store — and  his  wife  loaned  it  to  me.  It  seems  that 
Washington,  Hamilton  and  Henry  feared  just  what  is  now  coming 
to  pass. 

[URIEL  enters.  ] 

URIEL.  Things  pretty  lively  up  street.  Great  news !  The  citizens 
of  South  Carolina  have  inaugurated  open  war !  They  have  fired  upon 
Fort  Sumpter ! 

Miss  BO  WEN.  You  don't  say!  Have  those  wicked  men  gone  so 
far  as  that? 

URIEL.     Yes;  here  is  the  paper. 

Miss  GRAY.  They  have  had  a  deal  to  say  about  the  women  of  the 
South;  we  don't  ignore  or  depreciate  them  as  a  factor  in  the  case; 
they  ignore  us  women  of  the  North;  in  fact,  they  don't  seem  to  have 
much  regard  for  the  men;  but  they  will  find  the  women  of  the  North 
loyal  and  staunch  supporters  of  the  men.  As  in  the  Revolution,  the 
women  will  do  their  share. 

TOBEY.  Allow  me  to  correct  you.  The  women  will  be  found  to 
be  co-laborers  with  the  men. 

Miss  GRAY.  Yes,  we  shall  not  be  found  wanting — even  to  acting 
the  part  of  Florence  Nightingale  in  the  Crimean  War.  We  have  even 
a  higher  incentive — that  is,  our  cause  is  higher,  grander.  The  North- 


11 

ern  women  have  not  paraded  their  ability  to  do,  nor  have  they 
boasted  as  to  devotion,  to  all  that  has  made  Holy  America;  but  if 
this  act  at  Charleston  means  war,  the  American  women  shall  not  be 
found  wanting. 

URIEL.  Mr.  Lithcomb,  my  fellow-student  at  the  office,  is  most 
enthusiastic.  He  has  resigned  his  position,  and  is  off  for  the  war  to- 
morrow, or  as  soon  as  he  can  get  there. 

WHEELER.  As  you  all  know,  I  am  a  Democrat,  was  brought  up 
that  way;  my  father  was  a  Democrat  before  me;  I  have  believed  in 
all  that  has  been  preached  and  taught  by  the  Democratic  party; — 
but  these  hot-headed  men  of  the  South  have  gone  too  far.  While  I 
am  a  Democrat,  I  am  first  a  lover  of  the  Union.  So  from  this  time 
on  you  will  find  me  on  the  Union  side.  My  politics  shall  play  no 
part  in  the  case.  With  Webster  I  say,  "Liberty  and  Union,  now 
and  forever,  one  and  inseparable." 

[Chorus  from  the  parlor:  "Good! — Good! — G-o-o-d! — Good! — 
'    Good  for  the  Democrat!"] 

[Music:] 

My  country,  'tis  of  thee, 
Sweet  land  of  liberty, 

Of  thee  I  sing; 

Land  where  my  fathers  died, 
Land  of  the  Pilgrims'  pride, 
From  ev'ry  mountain  side 

Let  freedom  ring. 

ASHLYNE.     This  is  all  wrong. 

TOBEY.     What  is  wrong? 

ASHLYNE.  All  the  talk  we  see  in  the  papers  and  hear  at  the 
shops  about  coercing  the  South.  They  are  a  valiant  set  of  people. 
They  have  endured  wrongs — oppression  of  all  kinds — for  years.  See 
how  the  Abolitionists  have  thrown  firebrands  into  their  peaceful 
settlements.  We  have  no  right  to  interfere  with  their  private  affairs. 
If  they  want  slavery  and  free  trade,  let  them  have  it.  It  is  no  busi- 
ness of  ours.  If  they  want  the  trade  of  the  world  to  flow  in  untrani- 
meled  channels,  why,  in  that  respect,  they  are  far  ahead  of  us. 

TOBEY.  You  really  add  nothing,  no  new  thought;  it  is  the  old 
thought  and  act — same  as  we  have  heard  these  many  years. 

ASHLYNE.  We-  might  say  the  same  about  the  people  of  the 
North,  or,  better,  the  ideal  of  the  North. 

Miss  BOWEN.  Solomon,  yon  know,  says  that  there  is  nothing 
new  under  the  sun.  There  may  be  new  details,  but  the  same  old 
woof  runs  through  the  whole;  the  same  spirit  of  disunion  then  as 
now.  So  Solomon's  empire  was  soon  broken  up,  and  the  forces 
scattered.  How  much  better  it  would  have  been  for  them  and  the 
world  could  they  have  remained  united ! 


12 

ASHLYNE.  Or  the  union  party  had  been  strong  enough  to  over- 
power the  disunion  party.  But  they  were  not,  and  so  it  will  be  with 
this  contest  here  in  America. 

TOBEY.  How  men  do  like  to  bring  in  the  Bible-to  support  their 
views !  There  is  no  parallel  between  the  two.  There  was  less  affinity 
between  parts  in  all  of  the  ancient  nations.  The  spirit  of  this  slave- 
holder class  would  put  us  back  two  thousand  years.  They  would 
have  us  like  old  Greece.  Their  idea  leads  to  disruption — ours  to  a 
happy  consolidation.  Not  a  consolidation  for  oppression,  but  for  a 
greater  liberty — to  make  America  worthy  of  that  name,  "Holy 
America."  Not  a  country  for  a  class,  but  a  country  for  all. 


BARWELL.  The  extras  are  out  again.  Bad  news  for  the  Union 
side.  We  seem  to  be  beaten  all  along  the  lines.  There  was  Sumpter 
and  Bull  Run.  Now  the  retreat  from  the  Peninsula,  and  the  disas- 
trous second  Bull  Run.  Lincoln,  it  seems,  is  to  issue  a  proclama- 
tion of  emancipation.  He  has  been  importuned  to  do  so,  not 
only  as  a  war  measure,  but  as  a  moral  force  against  slavery.  It 
seems,  however,  that  Secretary  Seward  prevailed  upon  him  to  wait 
until  the  Union  arms  had  a  victory,  and  the  victory  has  come  at 
Antietam. 

ASHLYNE.  That  is  a  cowardly  and  unjust  measure;  it  will  do  us 
no  good. 

EMILINE.  No  good,  you  say?  He  ought  to  have  done  it  long 
ago.  None  will  be  so  disappointed  at  his  act  as  many  of  those  who 
have  called  themselves  Abolitionists.  They  do  not  want  the  cause 
of  Abolition  to  succeed;  too  many  of  them  only  wanted  something 
with  which  to  find  fault. 

BARWELL.  You  don't  mean  to  say  that  the  Abolitionists  don't 
want  freedom? 

EMILINE.  I  did  not  say  so.  I  said  some  of  them  who  have 
talked  so  loudly  and  condemned  us  as  a  people,  because  we  sanctioned 
slavery;  and  mark  my  words,  they  will  lose  interest.  Some  of 
them — and  too  many  of  them — are  right  down  hypocrites. 

ASHLYNE.  They  have  too  much  sense  to  wish  such  a  thing. 
They  have  only  pointed  out  the  hypocrisy  of  the  thing.  They  are 
not  hypocrites.  They  simply  realize  the  hypocrisy  of  the  nation  pre- 
tending to  have  some  impractical  ideas  of  freedom. 

TOBEY.  That  is  a  queer  position.  But,  Emiline,  as  I  understand 
her,  does  not  complain  of  the  cause,  but  only  of  a  class  who  delight 
in  finding  fault  with  us  as  a  nation;  and  to  remove  the  cause,  instead 
of  making  them  happy,  only  provokes  them,  because  their  thunder 
has  been  put  aside  by  the  wise  and  judicious  act  of  Lincoln,  supple- 
mented practically  by  Seward.  We  are  at  last  on  the  right  track, 
and  I  begin  to  see  our  way  clear. 


13 

ASHLYNE.  How  about  those  riots  in  New  York?  They  show 
where  the  people  stand.  This  negro  worship  won't  stand  the  test  of 
time.  The  South  will  win  yet,  and  then  all  this  talk  and  these  proc- 
lamations will  come  to  naught.  You  can't  overcome  such  a  people 
by  proclamations. 

TOBEY.  We  propose  to  keep  up  the  fight  —  our  cause  is  a  holy 
one.  Let  me  read  to  you  a  little  poem  that  I  cut  from  a  paper  the 
other  day. 

A  PRAYER  FOR  THE  UNION. 

BY  MRS.  J.  H.  HANAFORD. 

"  Liberty  and  Union,  now  and  forever,  one  and  inseparable." 

—  DANIEL  WEBSTER. 

In  this  dark  hour  of  national  dismay, 
Oh  God  of  Liberty!  Thy  power  display! 
Thy  hand  in  safety  led  thine  ancient  band, 
Through  paths  of  danger  to  their  Promised  Land; 
Thine  arm  defended  those  who  bravely  bore 
The  rights  of  freedom  to  this  Western  shore, 
Who  dared  the  whelming  wave  and  tempest's  shock, 
To  plant  a  freeman's  foot  on  Plymouth  Rock; 
And  when  oppression  from  old  England  came, 
And  brightly  blazed  anew  the  holy  flame 
Of  Liberty—  ^each  noble  heart  the  shrine  — 
Thou  led'st  them  on  to  victory,  Power  Divine! 
God  guided  pens  that  wrote  the  nation's  will, 
God  led  the  hosts  that  fought  on  Bunker's  Hill; 
So,  Lord,  now  treason  in  our  land  is  rife, 
Appear  for  our  deli  v'  ranee,  end  the  strife, 
And  let  the  "  ides  of  March,"  in  sixty-one, 
See  Lincoln  prove  a  second  Washington, 
Through  Thee  our  nation  saving  from  a  fall, 
The  wild  waves  quelling  ere  they  whelm  us  all, 
Till  over  our  broad  land,  from  shore  to  shore, 
Blend  Liberty  and  Union  evermore. 
Beverly,  Mass. 

DORRWELL.  So  Uriel  has  enlisted,  and  gone  to  the  front;  and 
to-day  I  learned  that  that  fellow-student  of  his,  who  was  so  anxious 
to  go  to  war,  his  enthusiasm  has  burned  out,  and  he  has  now  opened 
an  office  on  his  own  account  —  and  seems  doing  well.  To  think  of 
such  a  delicate  young  man  as  Uriel  at  the  very  front  acting  the  part 
of  a  common  soldier. 


Miss  GRAY.  My  brother,  who  is  in  the  same  division,  writes 
me  that  Uriel  is  in  the  hospital  seriously  ill  with  "camp  fever." 
What  a  contrast  between  these  two  young  men!  Only  two  years  ago 
working  side  by  side  in  the  same  business.  One  still  at  home, 
flourishing  in  business;  the  other,  and  the  more  delicate  one,  now  at 
a  field  hospital  so  severely  ill  that  he  is  not  expected  to  live.  Well, 


14 

the  war  is  developing  some  peculiar  traits  of  human  nature;  and  this 
other  man  was  a  loud-talking  Abolitionist,  while  no  one  ever  heard 
of  Uriel  saying  much  on  the  subject,  beyond  in  his  quiet  way  de- 
nouncing the  great  wrong  of  slavery. 

ASHLYNE.  I  guess  Uriel  had  better  have  stayed  at  home,  as 
did  the  other  man.  The  other  man  had  more  sense. 

Miss  BO  WEN.  It  seems  strange  to  hear  an  American  citizen  talk 
thus.  I  don't  believe  that  the  people  of  the  South  would,  at  such  a 
time,  tolerate  a  man  within  their  ranks  to  speak  thus  of  their  side. 

ASHLYNE.  Of  course  not.  We  are  invaders,  We  have  attacked 
them  and  all  that  they  hold  dear  —  right  in  their  very  homes.  I  am 
thankful  that  there's  enough  manhood  at  the  North  to  prove  the 
courage  to  speak  right  out  at  such  times. 

TOBEY.  We  allow  much  more  liberty  here  at  the  North.  We 
have  not  only  an  enemy  in  front,  but  we  have  one  in  the  rear.  But 
we  shall  come  out  all  right  in  the  end. 

ASHLYNE.  In  the  end?  But  we  have  not  yet  reached  that 
point,  and  the  end  may  surprise  you.  Just  see  what  the  South  is 
doing  on  the  oceans  of  the  world  !  She  is  making  a  rich  harvest 
there.  Our  war  vessels  are  not  smart  enough  for  them. 

TOBEY.  It  much  depends  upon  what  is  recognized  as  smartness. 
I  cannot  see  anything  very  grand  in  these  cruisers  attacking  unarmed 
vessels.  Why,  in  1776  and  in  1812,  our  privateers  did  not  occupy  all 
their  time  in  attacking  the  merchant  marine  of  the  enemy;  they  even 
sought  battle  with  the  enemy's  vessels  of  war.  They  did  not  sneak 
out  from  some  neutral  port,  attack  unarmed  vessels,  then  sneak  back 
under  the  protection  of  the  neutral  power.  What  brave  men  these 
men  of  the  South  are  on  the  water  ! 


DORR  WELL.  Another  extra  out!  All  about  Lee  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, carrying  all  before  him  ! 

ASHLYNE.  Yes,  he  is  carrying  war  into  Africa.  Very  soon  we 
shall  hear  that  he  has  taken  Washington. 


TOBEY.  Later  news;  best  we've  had  of  late!  "Lee  defeated  at 
Gettysburg  !  The  greatest  battle  of  the  war  —  one  of  the  greatest  of 
the  world!  Lee  defeated  and  in  rapid  retreat!" 

ASHLYNE.  He'll  come  out  all  right  yet.  He  is  the  greatest  gen- 
eral of  the  age. 

TOBEY.  Nonsense.  Had  he  the  opposition  with  which  to  con- 
tend that  our  generals  have  had,  he  would  not  show  up  to  such  ad- 
vantage as  appears  at  present. 

ASHLYNE.     The  great  general  shows  his  prowess  by  contending 


15 

against  greater  numbers.     The  forces  of  the  South  are  not  to  be  com- 
pared in  numbers  with  the  Union  army. 

ROSECOMB.  Let  me  say  a  word  right  here.  I  don't  believe  in 
this  disparity  of  numbers.  Our  army  is  relatively  greater  on  paper; 
theirs  relatively  greater  in  the  field.  Our  enlisted  men  have  not  only 
to  fight,  but  to  attend  to  all  the  duties  pertaining  to  the  field  and  the 
camp.  The  South  have  their  slave  labor,  which  they  have  used, 
where  we  use  enlisted  men.  This  slave  labor  does  not  count  in  their 
force;  while  all  of  our  camp-followers  count  in  our  force — on  paper, 
and  on  paper  only.  Just  think  of  the  lines  of  communication  that 
we  have  to  sustain  !  Then  our  force  is  all  the  while  changing — re- 
enlistments  of  a  great  variety.  To  say  the  least,  there  is  nothing 
fair  nor  honest  in  this  misrepresentation  of  the  forces  now  in  the 
field.  Wonder  how  much  progress  they  would  have  made  had  they 
attempted  to  carry  on  the  war  in  Northern  territory?  There  is,  how- 
ever, no  use  in  attempting  to  get  them  to  see  these  facts  in  their  true 
light,  for  that  they  will  not  do. 

WHEELER.  The  young  folks  in  the  parlor  have  the  singing  fever 
on  again.  We,  even  now,  as  the  old  woman  used  to  say,  can  hardly 
hear  ourselves  think. 

[Music:] 

God  bless  our  native  land, 
Firm  may  she  ever  stand, 

Through  storm  and  night. 
When  the  wild  tempests  rave, 
Ruler  of  wind  and  wave. 
Do  Thou  our  country  save 

By  Thy  great  might. 

For  her  our  prayers  shall  rise 
To  God  above  the  skies, 

On  Him  we  wait. 
Thou  who  art  ever  nigh, 
Guarding  with  watchful  eye, 
To  Thee  aloud  we  cry, 

God  save  the  State ! 

TOBEY.  Yes,  God  shall  save  the  State.  The  Union  shall  survive 
the  tempest;  and  all  the  world  shall  bless  her — for  her  influence  is 
blessed.  As  Uriel  would  say,  the  American  idea,  like  a  mighty 
river,  shall  flow  out  from  its  source,  gather  strength  and  volume  as 
it  goes;  and  its  influence  shall  be  felt  "from  the  flood  unto  the 
world's  end."  Holy  America  is  not  a  misnomer  nor  an  idle  dream, 
but  a  reality  that  shall  overcome  the  sordid  powers  of  the  world. 

ASHLYNE.  That  is  certainly  a  dream,  and  all  a  dream.  Amer- 
ica has  much  to  learn  from  the  world,  and  she  had  better  let  this 
stream  flow  in  upon  herself,  for  she  needs  it.  For  one  I  am  dis- 
gusted with  this  American  conceit. 

Miss  BOWEN.     Call  it  conceit,  Mr.  Ashlyne,  if  you  will.     In  the 


16 

words  of  Judge  Story,  "I  read  in  the  destiny  of  my  country  far 
brighter  hopes,  far  brighter  visions ' '  than  such  American  citizen 
as  see  only  such  dark  pictures  of  our  life  as  a  nation.  Yet  these 
same  American  citizens  seem  content  to  live  here.  They  enjoy  all 
the  benefits,  and  contribute  nothing  to  the  lofty  ideal  that  has  made 
our  country  what  it  is.  We  shall  win  in  spite  of  such  persons  as 
claim  citizenship  upon  the  soil  of  this  grand  country.  We  are  now 
passing  under  a  cloud — a  cloud  not  of  our  making.  But  when  this 
cloud  has  passed  away,  the  light  that  shall  follow,  all  shall  enjoy, 
even  those  who  now  seem  so  much  to  enjoy  the  discomforture  of 
the  nation. 

TOBEY.  The  salvation  and  redemption  of  the  world  is  now  at 
stake,  in  this  grand  Union  cause,  for  which  our  brave  men  at  the 
front  are  fighting — for  truth  and  humanity.  The  intellectual  culture 
of  the  world,  along  all  lines,  is  even  secondary  to  this.  This  lost,  all 
is  lost.  Without  the  protecting  hand  of  these  forces  at  the  front,  our 
free  institutions  would  soon  come  to  a  most  inglorious  end,  and  we 
should  again  enter  a  dark  medieval  disk.  Few,  even  among  the 
more  intelligent,  seem  to  realize  how  much  depends  upon  the  triumph 
of  our  Union  cause;  and  that  this  trimph  is  to  come  only  through 
the  noble  efforts  of  our  heroic  young  men,  now  at  the  front. 

[Music:] 

When  shall  the  nations  all  be  free, 

And  Force  no  longer  reign, 
None  bend  to  brutal  Power  the  knee, 

None  hug  the  gilded  chain? 
No  longer  rule  the  ancient  wrong, 

The  weak  be  trampled  by  the  strong? 
How  long,  dear  God  in  Heaven  !  how  long? 

The  People  wail  in  vain. 

Do  not  archangels  on  their  thrones 

Turn  piteous  looks  to  Thee, 
When  round  them  flock  the  prayers  and  groans 

Of  those  who  would  be  free? 
Of  those  who  knew  they  have  the  right 

To  Freedom,  though  crushed  down  by  might, 
As  all  the  world  has  to  the  light 

And  air  which  Thou  mad'st  free. 

The  ancient  empires,  staggering,  drift 

Along  Time's  mighty  tide, 
Whose  waters,  running  broad  and  swift, 

Eternity  divide. 
How  many  years  shall  pass  before, 

Over  their  bones,  the  sea  shall  roar, 
The  salt  sand  drift,  the  fresh  rain  pour, 

The  stars  mark  fallen  Pride? 


17 


The  issues  are  with  God; — to  do, 

Of  right,  belongs  to  us, 
May  we  be  ever  just  and  true, 

For  nations  flourish  thus. 
Justice  is  mightier  than  ships, 

Right,  than  the  cannon's  brazen  lips, 
And  Truth,  averting  dark  eclipse, 

Makes  fortunes  prosperous. 


[Thirty-five  years  after.] 

DORRWELL.  Well,  it  is  now  a  long  time  since  the  war,  and  few 
of  the  old  boarders,  I  suppose,  are  living.  Being  in  town  again,  I 
could  not  refrain  from  visiting  the  old  house.  The  spirit  impelled 
me  to  call,  and  to  my  pleasure  and  surprise  I  find  you  here.  I  saw 
"Broadarm"  on  the  door — the  name  was  familiar — so  I  ventured  to 
ring  the  bell,  and  who  should  answer  the  ring  but  you ! 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Yes,  it  is  I.  I  was,  as  you  may  remember,  Mary 
Gray.  I  am  now  Mrs.  Broadarm,  living  at  the  same  old  house  where 
Mrs.  Dusenbury  kept  boarders. 

DORRWELL.     Does  the  ghost  of  Ashlyne  ever  haunt  you? 

MBS.  BROADARM.  No,  we  don't  dwell  on  him  much;  but  we 
often  think  of  those  past  years,  and  of  the  people  gathered  in  this 
room. 

DORRWELL.  Since  then  America  has  made  vast  strides.  Her 
influence  is  more  and  more  felt  among  the  nations  of  the  world.  I 
often  think  of  Moses  Tobey,  and  of  that  remarkable  woman,  Eliza- 
beth Bowen — and  of  Wheeler,  too.  He  was  a  Democrat,  but  he  was 
a  staunch  Union  man,  and  when  it  came  to  the  test  of  strength  of 
Disunion  vs.  Union,  he  did  not  hesitate;  but  that  other  man,  Ash- 
lyne, what  a  citizen  he  was!  Wonder  what  has  become  of  him? 

MRS.  BROADARM.  I  saw  a  paper  of  his  only  a  short  time  ago. 
He  is  the  same  old  arrogant  and  bitter  opponent  of  all  that  we  hold 
good.  He  is  a  natural  fault-finder — nothing  good  in  America  for  him, 

DORRWELL.  Why  don't  he  emigrate  to  some  country  where  he 
can  find  the  ideals  that  he  so  prates  about? 

MRS.  BROADARM.  0,  he  can't  find  any  such  place.  He  is  con- 
tent to  live  here,  and  to  find  fault  with  all  that  we  do. 

DORRWELL.  What  has  become  of  Uriel? .  I  looked  in  the  direc- 
tory, but  his  name  does  not  appear.  He  lived  to  come  home,  I  be- 
lieve. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Yes,  and  he  put  out  his  sign,  and  endeavored 
to  get  a  living  by  his  profession  here,  but  it  was  a  struggle — too  much 
for  his  slender  means;  and  he  has  now,  for  some  years,,  been  in 
Chicago,  clerking  in  some  large  book  establishment. 


18 

DORRWELL.  That's  a  shame !  You  remember  when  the  war  was 
on,  how  they  encouraged  the  young  men  to  go  to  the  war?  Promi- 
nent and  well-to-do  citizens — even  Judge  Clemmer — all — promised  to 
do  well  by  them  if  they  lived  to  return;  and  that  contemptible  sneak, 
who  did  not  go  to  the  war,  I  see  is  flourishing  like  the  green  bay  tree. 

MBS.  BROADARM.  That  is  so.  I  often  see  his  sign  when  I  go  up 
street,  and  occasionally  see  him.  He,  too,  is  now  just  another  Ash- 
lyne.  As  one  of  the  new  arrivals  in  this  couutry  once  said,  when 
asked  as  to  his  politics,  he  was  "agin  the  government;"  and  that  is 
where  Lithcomb  and  Ashlyne  stand — ever  "agin  the  government." 
They  have  no  conceptions  of  a  "Holy  America."  As  our  influence 
extends,  it  only  seems  to  make  them  mad.  Our  industries  that  Miss 
Elizabeth  Bowen  and  Moses  Tobey  used  to  talk  so  much  about  have 
grown — grown  by  means  of  the  protection  idea  which  Miss  Bowen 
and  Mr.  Tobey  upheld,  and  for  which  they  pleaded.  They  were 
grand  prophets.  The  sordid  powers  of  Europe  are  trying  to  deluge 
us  with  their  castoff  lower  classes. 

DORRWELL.  You  may  remember  what  Tobey  used  to  say  on  this 
point.  He  said,  you  may  remember,  that  we  should  exert  ourselves 
to  educate  these  downtrodden  masses.  Show  them  from  what  they 
come,  and  to  what  they  have  come.  Reason  with  them — enlighten 
them.  I  think  that  the  better  element  in  them  will  prevail,  and 
they  may  be  made  to  see  the  advantages,  even  from  a  worldly  point 
of  view,  of  this  country  over  that  which  they  left.  The  other  day, 
when  passing  through  one  of  the  lower  parts  of  the  city — the  parts 
call  the  slums — I  was  delighted  to  see  little  sons  of  these  low  emi- 
grant class  playing  with  the  American  flag.  They  were  marching  up 
and  down  the  street,  playing  soldier,  and  at  the  head  of  the  column 
was  the  American  flag. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  That  is  certainly  a  good  omen.  I  suppose  if 
Ashlyne  had  seen  it,  it  would  have  made  him  highly  provoked — 
indeed,  it  would  have  made  him  right  mad. 

DORRWELL.  Undoubtedly,  but  there  is  a  spirit  behind  all  this 
that  they  cannot  control.  It  is  in  the  air.  By  the  way,  there  does 
not  seem  to  have  been  much  romance  in  these  surroundings — that  is, 
along  the  line  of  the  affections. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  You  are  a  little  off  the  main  road  there.  It  was 
present  all  the  time.  You  don't  seem  to  have  seen  it,  but  I  saw  it. 
There  was  so  much  of  the  stern  realities  of  the  period  that  it  is  no 
wonder  that  the  affairs  of  the  heart  did  not  attract  much  attention — 
it  was  there  all  the  while.  You  remember  Miss  Crummell,  who  sung 
so  well,  and  Mr.  Rander,  I  suppose? 

DORRWELL.  Yes,  and  we  had  some  fine  singing;  and  it  was 
rather  strange  that,  even  before  we  realized  war,  the  spirit  of  war 
had  already  alighted  upon  the  music  of  the  day.  But  what  about 
Miss  Crummell? 


19 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Why,  she  and  Uriel  were  engaged.  She  being 
quite  an  intellectual  woman,  with  considerable  poetry  in  her  nature, 
it  was  quite  natural  that  she  and  Uriel  should  come  together.  I  was 
a  quiet  witness  of  all  that  was  going  on.  Uriel  went  to  the  war. 
While,  for  some  months,  he  was  severely  ill  and  in  hospital — he 
never  came  home;  nor  was  he,  like  others,  sent  to  his  State  hospital 
He  just  remained  at  the  front,  and  when  convalescent,  rejoined  his 
company  directly  from  the  general  hospital.  At  first  an  intimate  cor- 
respondence was  kept  up,  but  I  could  see  Uriel  was  losing  ground. 
The  stay-at-home  man  had  the  advantage.  As  in  his  profession,  so 
in  his  affair  of  the  heart.  By  going  to  the  war  he  lost  both.  Rander, 
you  know,  was  a  genial,  jolly  fellow,  and  it  seems  that  an  uncle  of 
his  died  and  left  him  considerable  property.  I  don't  know  how 
much,  but  enough  to  set  him  up  in  the  stove  and  furnace  business  all 
by  himself;  and  if  you  will  take  the  trouble  to  go  to  Boston  you  will 
see  him  well  fixed;  all  seems  well  with  them.  I  could  see  that  Rander 
and  Miss  Crummell  were  growing  toward  each  other.  She  was  an 
attractive  woman,  and  he  had  money;  and  it  seems  that  that  must 
have  had  its  influence.  Anyhow,  while  an  indifferent  correspondence 
was  the  while  kept  up  with  Uriel,  to  me  it  all  the  while  looked  as 
though  it  would  not  have  made  a  very  deep  wound  in  her  heart  had 
Uriel  been  reported  among  the  killed.  How  he  escaped  is  a  wonder. 
He  was  right  in  the  worst  part  of  the  active  soldier  life.  Yet  from  the 
time  he  rejoined  his  company  late  in  the  summer  of  1863,  his  letters 
home  always  located  him  at  the  very  front.  On  three  occasions,  at 
least,  Uriel  speaks  of  having  seen  Lincoln.  First,  one  day,  when  on  a 
"  pass,"  he  saw  the  President  coming  out  of  the  White  House ;  second 
time.  April  25,  1864,  when  passing  through  Washington,  with  the 
Ninth  Corps,  then  on  itsway  to  the  front,  Lincoln  stood  on  the  balcony 
of  the  Willard  Hotel,  while  the  corps  was  marching  by ;  the  third  and 
last  time,  fall  of  1864,  when  his  company  was  temporarily  in  Wash- 
ington, while  on  a  pass,  he  was  walking  up  the  path  towards  the 
White  House,  then  and  there  met  the  President,  who  had  stopped  to 
talk  to  a  friend.  It  was  a  warm  day,  and  Uriel  wrote,  "As  I  was 
passing  the  President  removed  his  hat  to  wipe  the  perspiration  from 
his  brow;  and  because  of  this  act  I  had  a  very  good  opportunity 
to  see  him."  Uriel  was  with  the  Army  of  the  Potomac  through  the 
trying  periods  of  1864,  until  the  end;  and  you  may  remember  how 
that  army  moved  always  by  the  left  flank;  and  Uriel  was  in  the  van. 
His  descriptions  of  the  war  incidents,  battles,  marches  by  night,  and 
soldier  life  in  general,  were  read  out  to  us;  and  I  shall  never  forget 
them.  As  a  private  soldier,  he,  of  course,  had  no  control  over  the 
affairs  of  battle.  It  would  seem  that  he  could  well  apply  that 
verse  of  the  Psalms,  "  O  Lord  God,  the  strength  of  my  health;  Thou 
hast  covered  my  head  in  the  day  of  battle;"  and  that  of  the  XCI 
Psalm,  (taking  up  book  and  handing  it  to  Dorrwell. )  Read  that  and 


20 

see  if  it  don't  strongly  apply  in  his  case:  "A  thousand  shall  fall  be- 
side thee,  and  ten  thousand  at  thy  right  hand;  but  it  shall  not  come 
nigh  thee."  Yes,  Uriel  went  all  through  with  the  war,  from  the 
time  he  enlisted  (in  1862)  until  the  very  end;  and  the  end  found  him 
at  Appomattox.  His  description  of  the  scenes  of  the  9th  of  April, 
1865,  was  graphic.  He  survived  it  all;  we  know  not  how;  for  when 
he  returned  he  was  not  materially  changed.  He  was  somewhat  sun- 
burnt, but  when  he  got  on  his  citizen's  clothes,  the  sunburn  was 
about  all  the  difference  you  could  see  in  him.  He  returned  to  meet 
with  disappointment,  and  he  seems  to  have  had  plenty  of  it.  When 
he  returned  one  would  have  supposed  that  his  folks  and  his  affiance 
would  have  been  down  to  the  boat,  or  along  the  street  somewhere,  to 
greet  him.  But  if  he  expected  them  and  looked  for  them,  he  looked 
in  vain.  I  knew  how  things  were,  and  I  appointed  myself  as  a  com- 
mittee of  one  to  break  the  news  to  him.  He  remarked  that  for  some 
time  he  had  suspected  that  there  was  something  wrong.  The  letters 
that  he  had  received  were  not  frequent,  nor  wrere  they  of  any  special 
interest;  as  he  remarked,  they  seemed  labored. 

DORR  WELL.  So  you  broke  the  news  to  him?  You  acted  well; 
it  was  a  delicate  thing  to  do,  yet  it  was  wise  in  you  to  do  it.  I  don't 
suppose  you  indulge  in  music  much  now? 

MKS.  BROADARM.  A  little.  This  house  seems  destined  to  con- 
tinue its  old  reputation  in  that  line;  you  must  remember  there  is  now 
a  new  generation  on  the  floor.  My  daughters  sing,  and  at  times  some 
of  the  young  folks  of  the  neighborhood  come  in  and  we  have  a  good 
old-time  sing.  When  the  Spanish  war  was  on  it  made  me  think  of 
old  times.  You  remember  how  Tobey  used  to  speak  about  Cuba? 

DORRWELL.  Cuba,  with  his  short  a?  Yes,  I  remember  him. 
He  used  to  say  we  ought  to  have  Cuba;  and  he  was  as  persistent  in 
it  as  Cato  was  in  regard  to  Carthage.  How  the  American  idea  has 
flowed  since  then — like  a  mighty  river,  flowing  on !  How  the  nations 
are  more  and  more  turning  their  eyes  towards  us !  They  are  feeling 
the  influence  that  was  begun  here,  and  in  which  Elizabeth  Bowen  and 
Moses  Tobey  were  so  much  interested.  What  two  grand  characters, 
veritable  man  and  woman,  such  as  only  on  this  American  soil  you 
could  meet!  No  idealists — yet  their  thoughts  and  acts  highly  ideal; 
practical,  common-sense  people,  and  the  land  is  full  of  them;  and 
these  are  the  men  and  the  women  who  make  this  country  worthy  of 
the  name  that  has  been  applied  to  it — "Holy  America." 

Mrs.  BROADARM.  Yes,  Mr.  Dorrwell,  you  and  I  see  it  in  this 
light;  but  such  men  as  Ashlyne  and  Lithcomb  et  al.y  such  high  lights 
on  our  canvas,  make  them  smile — and  very  angry — with  high  con- 
tempt. 

DORRWELL.  Yes,  they  are  al  ways  ready  to  find  fault.  With  them 
everything  is  wrong.  We,  according  to  them,  are  a  vain  and  boast- 
full  nation.  As  a  people  we  have  ever  been  ready  to  appreciate  and 


21 

adopt  whatever  is  good  or  what  we  have  found  to  be  good  in  other 
people.  Just  see  the  strides  we  have  made  in  the  last  quarter  of  the 
old  century.  In  mechanics,  along  the  line  of  invention,  we  are 
supreme.  In  science  we  are  not  behind  the  best' of  them  in  the  Old 
World.  We  at  least  hold  our  own  there;  and  in  art  we  are  fast  com- 
ing to  the  front.  But  in  one  thing  we  excel — Ashlyne,  of  course, 
will  call  it  American  conceit — we  excel  in  all  that  pertains  to  the 
comforts  and  welfare  of  the  people.  In  this  we  are  in  harmony  with 
the  spirit  of  the  Psalms. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Let  them  call  us  conceited  if  they  will.  We 
excel  in  all  that  pertains  to  the  comfort  and  welfare  of  the  people. 
We  can  stand  their  accusation. 

DORR  WELL.  Yes,  let  them;  but  the  grandest  thing  of  all  is  the 
American  life — the  spirit  of  freedom  and  good-will  that  here  pre- 
vails. With  Ashlyne  and  his  class,  we,  as  well  as  they,  know  that 
there  are  still  great  wrongs  to  overcome. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Yes,  there  are  great  wrongs;  and  while  there 
are  great  wrongs,  there  are  great  goods;  and  we  who  are  of  the  opti- 
mist nature,  not  only  claim  this,  but  we  all  the  while  labor  to  make 
it  more  and  more  so. 

DORR  WELL.  While  the  Ashlynes-Lithcombs  et  al.  combination 
never  contribute  towards  advancing  those  lines  that  lead  to  the  vic- 
tory of  the  spiritual  over  the  grosser  elements  that  are  all  the  while 
creeping  out,  they  are  like  the  snarling  dog  in  the  manger:  they  are 
never  so  happy  as  when  they  can  point  out  to  you  some  public  short- 
comings. As  during  the  war  for  the  Union,  they  never  rejoiced  over 
a  victory  for  the  Union  arms;  but  if  the  rebs  won  a  victory,  how  ex- 
ultant they  were !  ' '  That  takes  the  conceit  out  of  us; ' '  and,  of  course, 
by  us  they  meant  the  Union  cause. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Well,  our  conceit  won.  We  accept  the  word; 
not  with  their  interpretation,  but  with  our  own;  and  along  this  same 
conceit  we  use  the  term  "Holy  America."  But,  Mr.  Dorrwell,  do 
you  think  that  the  'enemy  will  ever  have  the  power  to  overthrow  our 
work? 

DORRWELL.  Not  by  any  open,  straight-forward  methods.  If 
we  come  to  grief  it  will  be  only  by  the  now  well-known  undermining 
system,  and  the  enemy  is  good  at  that,  and  will  not  leave  any  stone 
unturned  in  order  to  accomplish  it. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  I  understand  the  general  idea,  as  you  refer  to 
it;  but  I  don't  know  as  I  grasp  the  details. 

bORRWELL.  It  is  much  like  understanding  the  combination  of 
the  lock  system.  When  the  combination  is  thoroughly  understood 
the  details  readily  fall  into  line.  Napoleon,  for  example,  well  illus- 
trates the  detail.  You  remember  how  he  was  worked  up  to  the 
front.  Some  simple  persons  think  that  such  men,  unaided  and 
alone,  work  themselves  to  the  front.  This  is  a  delusion.  There  is 


22 

always  some  agent  back  of  them.  They  only  perform  the  part — as 
an  actor  might  play  a  part  on  the  stage.  They  always  begin  by 
making  the  poorer  classes  think  that  they  are  their  friend — a  friend 
who  would  lead  them  out  of  the  wilderness  of  despair  in  which  they 
are  confined.  They  berate  the  rich,  the  powerful,  and  even  attack 
Church  as  well  as  State.  The  knowing  ones  wink  at  it.  They  know 
that  all  this  talk  is  for  effect,  and  when  the  proper  time  comes  it  will 
be  repudiated — like  a  valueless  check  at  the  bank.  Do  you  remem- 
ber what  one  of  his  generals — Audereau — said,  (and  he  was  evidently 
an  honest  man,  who  had  gone  into  the  war  with  confidence  in  Napo- 
leon, )  that  he  really  meant  to  be  a  deliverer,  not  only  to  France,  but 
to  the  world.  When  he  had  reached  the  pinnacle  of  his  fame,  you 
you  remember,  he  gave  a  great  fete,  wherein  he  took  the  character  of 
a  Roman  Caesar.  Audereau  was  disgusted  and  disappointed  at  the  turn 
of  affairs,  and  he  remarked  that  all  that  was  necessary  to  make  this 
thing  complete  was  the  ghosts  of  the  men  to  arise  who  sacrificed  so 
much  in  order  to  put  this  thing  down.  Yes,  that  is  the  way  the 
tyrants  work:  always  in  the  dark;  just  as  the  other  Napoleon 
worked — all  on  the  basis  of  the  name  ''Napoleon."  France  to-day 
would  be  better  off  if  they  had  never  been  born. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  Was  not  Napoleon  I  really  a  great  man,  labor- 
ing under  adverse  conditions? 

DORR  WELL.  I  do  not  see  in  him  the  wonderful  talent  with  which 
he  is  credited.  His  allies  were  ever  working  for  him.  To  overthrow 
and  to  destroy  was  their  motto.  Instead  of  Napoleon  acting  alone, 
he  was  merely  a  figurehead.  Then  look  at  Napoleon  III.  It  is  no 
wonder  that  the  German  power  overcame  France.  The  real  enemies 
were  within  the  lines,  rather  than  outside  of  them.  The  war  was 
long  prepared  for  on  the  part  of  Germany.  On  the  part  of  the  Em- 
peror of  the  French,  it  was  how  to  let  the  enemy  in,  not  how  to  keep 
him  out.  In  these  two  Napoleons  there  is  a  grand  object  lesson.  If 
we,  as  a  nation  of  freemen  and  women,  are  ever  destroyed,  it  will  be 
by  some  such  process.  Some  man  will  be  worked  up  to  the  front, 
and  he  will  be  the  "finest,  truest  man  God  ever  made."  He  will 
fight  the  battles  of  the  weak  against  the  strong,  and  the  people,  hav- 
ing confidence  in  him,  will  trust  him,  and  admire  his  boldness.  As 
in  the  case  of  Napoleon  I,  they  will  condone  and  even  overlook  many 
things.  The  effort,  as  in  France,  will  be  to  make  the  Republic  ont 
to  be  a  failure.  Brutal  men,  as  the  decoys  of  Napoleon  III,  will  be 
rushed  to  the  front,  and  kept  there,  until  the  mighty  deliverer(I) 
rises,  and  in  a  dramatic  manner  strikes  them  down.  And  then  some 
Ashlyne  rushes  into  print  with  his  condemnation  of  the  Republic. 
"Give  me  an  Empire,  and  make  Napoleon  B'.  Smith — Brown— or 
Jones— Emperor—Emperor  for  life.  We  are  all  tired  of  this  mush- 
room government  called  a  Republic !"  Do  you  understand?  This  is 


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the  general  plan  by  which  tyrants  of  all  ages  have  worked,  and,  up  to 
date,  quite  successfully. 

MES.  BROADARM.  I  think  that  I  understand  the  subject  as  never 
before,  and  I  more  readily  comprehend  what  Moses  Tobey  and  Eliz- 
abeth Bowen  mean  by  the  term  "  underminding  of  our  institutions." 
May  God  ever  speed  the  right !  Then  the  Psalmist  of  old  well  under- 
stand these  men  and  their  work;  no  one  describes  them  and  their 
contemptible  work  better  than  he. 

DORRWELL.  As  we  received  the  inheritance  from  our  forefath- 
ers, may  we  hand  it  down  to  future  generations.  To  be  forewarned 
is  to  be  forearmed. 

MRS.  BROADARM.     The  choir  will  now  sing. 

[Music:] 

Let  every  heart  rejoice  and  sing, 
-,  Let  choraLanthem  rise, 
/V^fc-iseverenttrien  and  children  bring 
/To  God  your  sacrifice; 
For  He  is  good,  the  Lord  is  good, 

And  kind  are  all  His  ways, 
With  songs  and  honors  sounding  loud, 
The  Lord  Jehovah  praise, 

While  the  rocks  and  the  rills, 
While  the  vales  and  the  hills, 

A  glorious  anthem  raise — 
Let  each  prolong 
The  grateful  song, 
And  the  God  of  our  fathers  praise — 
And  the  God  of  our  fathers  praise. 

He  bids  the  sun  to  rise  and  set, 

In  heaven  His  power  is  known; 
And  earth  subdued  to  Him  shall  yet 

Bow  low  before  His  throne; 
For  He  is  good,  the  Lord  is  good, 

And  kind  are  all  His  ways. 
With  songs  and  honors  sounding  loud, 

The  Lord  Jehovah  praise, 

While  the  rocks  and  rills,  etc. 

MRS.  BROADARM.  We  have  labored  with  the  rest,  and  all  have 
labored.  Our  fathers  and  mothers  labored  before  us.  We  received 
a  priceless  heritage,  and  this  heritage  it  is  our  grand  desire  to  trans- 
mit to  the  future,  unimpaired — improved,  if  anything— that  future 
generations  shall  have  the  benefit  of  these  labors  on  behalf  of  "Holy 
America." 

ISAAC  P.  NOYES, 

WASHINGTON,  D.  C.,  July,  1903. 


AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 


LD  21-10m-5,'43  (6061s) 


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l&JrU**- 


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UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


